They gathered that night in the small guest hall assigned to them—no guards inside, but everyone knew there were ears behind the walls.
The room smelled faintly of old wood and lamp oil.
Haruto shut the door himself.
No one spoke for several seconds.
Then Kenta muttered, "So… we just got politely told to stay ignorant."
"Not politely," Mio said. "Strategically."
Takumi leaned against the wall. "That wasn't fear. That was control."
Naoki crossed his arms. "They know something about demons that doesn't fit the Church's story."
Emi hugged her knees. "And they're scared we'll ask the wrong questions."
Ilyrien sat near the window, moonlight tracing her white scales. "In Mirelen history, sealed libraries always mean one of two things: either shame… or failure."
"Or both," Shun added.
Haruto looked at each of them. "We can't force that door open. Not yet."
"So what?" Riku asked. "We pretend everything's normal?"
"No," Haruto said. "We prepare. Stronger bodies. Better magic. Sharper minds. If truth is dangerous, we need to be able to survive it."
Yui nodded slowly. "Then the library becomes a goal—not a request."
Akira smiled faintly. "A forbidden side quest."
That earned a few weak laughs.
Ilyrien tilted her head. "You should also prepare your hearts. Some truths don't wound the body."
Silence followed.
Then footsteps outside.
A messenger knocked.
A sealed parchment was delivered—guild insignia.
Haruto broke it open.
"H-rank mission," he read. "Target: Horned Shadow-Deer. Location: Greywood Expanse. Threat: aggressive migration, destruction of farms."
Kenta blinked. "Deer?"
"Shadow-deer," Souta said. "Never trust animals with titles."
The Greywood Expanse
They left at dawn.
Greywood lived up to its name—ash-colored trees, thin fog hugging the ground, and silence that felt unnatural.
Ilyrien walked near the center, protected by instinct more than formation.
Takumi led with spear and shield. Archers—Souta and Hana—covered the flanks. Mages and dual-element users stayed mid-line.
They didn't see the deer at first.
They heard them.
Hooves striking bark instead of soil.
Then glowing eyes flickered between the trees.
The Shadow-Deer emerged—tall, lean, with antlers like twisted black glass. Mist clung to their bodies, distorting their shape as they moved.
"Three," Naoki whispered.
"No," Akira corrected. "Five. Two in the fog."
They moved as a herd, but not like animals.
They circled.
Takumi raised his spear. "On my mark."
The first deer lunged.
Souta fired—arrow piercing its neck. Black mist burst from the wound, not blood.
It didn't fall.
Riku slammed it with earth-infused strike, cracking its skull. Only then did it collapse, dissolving into dark smoke.
"Not normal biology," Mio muttered.
Another charged Kenta.
He met it with fire-wind combo—searing its legs, then cutting through with heated air.
Still, it fought until Takumi crushed its chest.
The herd split, trying to flank.
Hana's arrows pinned one mid-leap.
Naoki and Akira combined lightning and shadow—overloading its nervous system until it froze and shattered.
The last deer went for Ilyrien.
Haruto intercepted, blade glowing with dual magic, slicing through antlers and skull in one motion.
Silence returned.
Only fog and fading smoke remained.
Kenta wiped sweat from his brow. "Those weren't animals."
"They were shaped like animals," Ilyrien said. "But something else wore that shape."
Emi shivered. "That sounds like demons."
Haruto looked toward the distant capital.
"Or something the library would explain."
They collected proof—antler fragments that slowly dissolved even in their bags.
On the way back, no one joked.
The forest felt like it was listening.
And somewhere between the sealed library and the shadowed woods, the world felt less like a story about heroes—
And more like a place that didn't want to be understood.